I’ve started picking these up and really enjoying them. I’m a big Jeff Lemire fan and I came for him, but have discovered Matt Kindt and others since. My question: What’s their biggest book in this modern incarnation of the company? I’m guessing it’s the crossover event as it features all the different franchises, but just curious.

They tend to only run an ongoing for a year or two before finishing it up, and then relaunching a slightly different version later on. Archer and Armstrong had a 24-issue ongoing, then were in The Delinquents - a crossover with Quantum and Woody, and now have a new ongoing called A&A.

X-O Manowar is the only title they haven’t done this to yet, not sure if it’s because it’s a more consistent seller or because it was the first relaunched title, or some other creative choice.

From rooting around the Valiant website it looks like X-O is finishing up with issue 50 next month.

And I’d just like to take this (and pretty much any) opportunity to say that Valiant’s comics are the shit. Best superhero universe out there right now, and it’s up there with late 90s - early 2000s Wildstorm on the awesome-o-meter

That could actually be really cool if done correctly. I liked those story lines.

Does anyone know if Valiant stops and starts titles like they do because of sales, or is it to juggle all their IP into the rotation? It seems like they’re pretty disciplined about keeping a certain number of titles active at any one time.

Thus far each book I’ve read seemed to come to a pretty logical ending before any new volume came around. But I can’t say I’ve read EVERYTHING they’ve put out either.

I think a big part of the their appeal is the emphasis on quality. They obviously can’t pay top DC or Marvel rates but they get the best talent outside that and keep the line tight so it doesn’t get diluted.

I’ve never read a bad Valiant book in the new incarnation. Art or story. Some are better than others but they are very reliable.

Does anyone know if Valiant stops and starts titles like they do because of sales, or is it to juggle all their IP into the rotation? It seems like they’re pretty disciplined about keeping a certain number of titles active at any one time.

I think it’s a little of both, but I can’t point to a specific statement that confirms this.

garjones:

I’ve picked up loads of them in the 99c sales they do every few months on Comixology.

I don’t think their best is as good as maybe the best of Marvel, Image or DC but their worst is a lot better. They are a very safe bet when plonking down your money.

I read them via Scribd unlimited, which runs a few months behond the monthly publication (The most recent uploads being Book of Death, the first couple of issues of Wrath of the Eternal Warrior and Issue 1 of The Second Lives of Doctor Mirage), but it’s like a tenner a month, gives access to the old Valiant titles (less Turok, Magnus, Robot Hunter and Solar, Man of the Atom, but all their crossover appearances are intact), as well as a ton of comics from a bunch of other publishers including Marvel, Boom, Tokyopop and Antarctic Press.

What little is published publicly in regards to page rates seems to bear that out.

While not a comprehensive listing of page rates by any means. What is here at least anecdotally points to them being on the higher end overall. While falling somewhere in the mid-range for the Big Two.

I’d imagine this is all based on work for hire rates, mostly because I figure creator owned would be a very different metric than straightforward page rate.

I’ve spoken to one of their sales reps several times. He said their plan is to have 8-10 comics published monthly so that readers can afford to pick up every title, if they choose. I just started reading their relaunched books earlier this year, and love them. The Valiant, follwed by Book of Death and then Divinity (all event books) were suggested as starting points, then Harbinger, X-0, etc. for following the individual characters. Imperium was also excellent.